Justice Careers & Internships

With a four-year, liberal arts degree in justice you’ll be prepared for many career
opportunities or for graduate school. You could work for a law firm, law enforcement
agency, correctional facility, public policy organization, nonprofit organization
or government agency. If you are interested in forensics, you may want to consider
a science-related major or a double major in justice and a science-related field.

Entry-level positions include city police officer, juvenile corrections officer, corrections
officer, probation agent, border patrol agent, paralegal or legal assistant. With
advanced training or a graduate degree, you could pursue a career as a lawyer, judge,
mediator, police detective, professor or researcher.

Salaries for justice majors vary, depending on your field and experience. According
to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the following are annual median salaries,
as of 2010:

City or state police officer: $53,540

Correctional officer: $39,020

Fish and game warden: $49,730

Judge: $119,270

Lawyer: $112,760

Mediator: $55,800

Paralegal or legal assistant: $46,680

Police detective: $68,820

Create Your Career Network in College

Because of the versatility of a justice degree, all justice majors are required to
complete an internship. During an internship you will gain essential experience, develop
insight into careers you do and don’t want to pursue, and begin developing a network
of professional colleagues.

Jennifer Montalvo

Justice ’08

Staff Attorney, Lagmann

“Mount Mary instilled in me the importance of service learning and public interest
work. Both the service learning requirements and the justice program led me to where
I am now—a graduate of law school and practicing law at a small nonprofit law firm,
providing legal services to the underprivileged throughout southeastern Wisconsin.”